India closes Vedanta copper smelter permanently after bloody protest

FILE PHOTO: A general view shows Sterlite Industries Ltd's copper plant, a unit of London-based Vedanta Resources, in Tuticorin, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu April 5, 2013. Reuters

FILE PHOTO: A general view shows Sterlite Industries Ltd's copper plant, a unit of London-based Vedanta Resources, in Tuticorin, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu April 5, 2013. Reuters

Charred vehicles are pictured near a government office, after at least 13 people were killed when police fired on protesters seeking closure of plant on environmental grounds in town of Thoothukudi in southern state of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, May 24, 2018. Reuters

Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest, after at least 13 people were killed when police fired on protesters seeking closure of plant on environmental grounds in town of Thoothukudi in southern state of Tamil Nadu, in Chennai, India, May 24, 2018. Reuters

An Indian state on Monday ordered the permanent closure of a copper smelter run by London-listed Vedanta Resources after 13 people protesting to demand its shutdown on environmental concerns were killed last week.

"We have taken a decision to permanently shut down
the plant and today issued government orders to do the same," Edappadi K
Palaniswami, chief minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu said in a
statement after meeting officials, including from the pollution department.

Residents and environmental activists have long demanded
a shutdown of the copper smelter, India's second-biggest with an annual
production of more than 400,000 tonnes, citing air and water pollution.

Vedanta has denied the accusations of pollution.

Charred vehicles are pictured near a government office, after at least 13 people were killed when police fired on protesters seeking closure of plant on environmental grounds in town of Thoothukudi in southern state of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, May 24, 2018. Reuters

As news of a government order to shut the plant spread,
about 100 locals gathered to witness the sealing of the smelter's main
entrance. Fatima Babu, a long-time campaigner against the plant, arrived at the
smelter's entrance shouting "Thank you authorities".

"We are finally free, we could have been happier if
so many people had not died. This is for all of them," Muthu Pandi, a
driver who had come to see the plant being shut, told Reuters.

The district's main administrative officer, called the
collector, supervised the sealing as the crowd whistled and cheered from behind
police barricades placed 50 metres away from the entrance. They shouted
"Long live the collector," as the collector's car departed.

In the heart of the city, locals gathered near an
electrical appliances showroom to watch the news on TV channels.

Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest, after at least 13 people were killed when police fired on protesters seeking closure of plant on environmental grounds in town of Thoothukudi in southern state of Tamil Nadu, in Chennai, India, May 24, 2018. Reuters

The chief of Vedanta's India copper business, P Ramnath,
told Reuters on Friday the company would legally fight any attempt to close the
plant and it aimed to "build our bridges" with the community.

The plant, in the coastal city of Thoothukudi, has been
shut since late March for maintenance and pending a renewal of its licence,
even as residents continued largely peaceful protests demanding it be shut for
good.

The opposition escalated on Tuesday when thousands of
people marched towards a government office on the 100th day of the protest. Ten
people were killed in police firing that day; three more died in subsequent
days.

Vedanta says it has already evacuated about 3,500
employees from the plant site due to the tensions.